COVID-19 vaccine literacy in individuals aged 18 and over who applied to the family health center in Çankırı

The World Health Organization declared the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic, which spread from the city of Wuhan, China, to the whole world on March 11, 2020, as a pandemic. Covid-19 vaccines are at the forefront of the most important protective factors in the fight against the epidemic, but there are different attitudes towards the vaccine. Vaccine literacy indicates the capacity of individuals to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services to make sound health decisions about vaccines. This study aimed to evaluate the vaccination literacy level of Çankırı province and to determine the factors affecting vaccination literacy. The population of the research consists of individuals aged 18 and over who are registered to the Family Health Center located in Çankırı province and all districts. In the evaluation of the data, numbers, percentiles, arithmetic mean and standard deviation values were used in descriptive statistical methods. Covid-19 vaccine literacy level in Çankırı province was determined as medium level. Although the Covid-19 vaccine literacy levels are lower in districts with a high elderly population, no statistically significant difference was observed and in accordance with the literature, it was found to be lower in the older age group than in other groups. In the study, when the Covid-19 vaccine status and the Covid-19 vaccine literacy levels were examined, the literacy level was found to be higher in the individuals who were vaccinated and showed similar results with other studies. As a result, within the scope of the fight against Covid-19, which affects our country and the whole world, the vaccination literacy level should be increased, especially in elderly individuals aged 65 and over, and we think that we can reduce deaths by increasing the vaccination rates.